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Featured Article
Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics; Aid / Disasters
Article Date: 03 May 2012 - 0:00 PDT
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More than 10% of babies worldwide are born prematurely, according to a new report issued by Save the Children, WHO (The World Health Organization), The March of Dimes, and Newborn & Child Health.
The report, called "Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth", informs that over 1 million premature babies die soon after they are born, while several million more suffer from physical, neurological or educational disabilities.
The economic burden of these disabilities to family members and society overall is considerable. The report also includes the first ever country ranking of preterm birth rates.
Joy Lawn, M.D., PhD, co-editor of the report and Director, Global Evidence and Policy for Save the Children's Saving Newborn Lives program, said:
"Being born too soon is an unrecognized killer. Preterm births account for almost half of all newborn deaths worldwide and are now the second leading cause of death in children under 5, after pneumonia, and six times more than child deaths due to AIDS."
There are huge disparities between countries regarding preterm births and associated mortalities. All but 2 of the 11 countries with preterm birth rates over 15% are in sub-Saharan Africa. 60% of all preterm births worldwide occur in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The authors emphasize, however, that preterm birth really is a worldwide problem. Brazil and USA are among the 10 countries with the highest number of preterm births. In the USA, 12% of all babies are born premature, that is more than 1 in every nine births - twice as many in the majority of European countries (twice as many as in China).
The following nations have the highest number of preterm births: 3,519,100 - India1,172,300 - China773,600 - Nigeria748,100 - Pakistan675,700 - Indonesia517,400 - United States424,100 - Bangladesh348,900 - Philippines341,400 - Democratic Republic of the Congo279,300 - BrazilThe following countries have the highest rates of preterm births: Malawi - 18.1 per 100Comoros and Congo - 16.7 per 100Zimbabwe - 16.6 per 100Equatorial Guinea - 16.5 per 100Mozambique - 16.4 per 100Gabon - 16.3 per 100Pakistan - 15.8 per 100Indonesia - 15.5 per 100Mauritania - 15.4 per 100The following countries have the lowest rates of preterm births: Belarus - 4.1Ecuador - 5.1Latvia - 5.3Finland, Croatia, and Samoa - 5.5Lithuania and Estonia - 5.7Antigua/Barbuda - 5.8Japan and Sweden - 5.9Dr. Lawn said:
"The numbers of preterm births are increasing. Of the 65 countries with reliable trend data for preterm birth rates, all but 3 countries have shown increases in the last 20 years. Worldwide, 50 million births still happen at home and many babies die without birth or death certificates. These first ever country estimates give us a clear picture of how many babies are born too soon and how many die."Several factors have contributed to a rising rate of preterm births in high-income nations, including: More older women are giving birth than before
More women are using fertility drugs to get pregnant, which increases the number of multiple pregnancies
More women of reproductive age have diabetes
More women of reproductive age are obese
There are more inductions and C-sections before full-term, many of which are medically not unnecessaryThe main factors which increase preterm birth rates in poor countries include HIV, high teenage pregnancy rates, infections, HIV, and malaria.
However, many preterm births are unexplained in both poor and rich nations.
In the United States in 2009: The African-American preterm birth rate was 17.5%The Caucasian pre-term birth rate was 10.9%
For women aged 20 to 35 years, the preterm birth rate was between 11% and 12%
For women aged under 17 and over 40 years, the preterm birth rate was over 15%Low-income countries - over 90% of babies born three months early die
High-income countries - less than 10% of babies born three months early die
Dr. Lawn stressed:
"This 90: 10 survival gap means these babies are not just born too soon - they are born to die, with even their families not knowing there are highly effective solutions that could save their lives.Experts say that approximately 75% of the preterm babies who currently die worldwide could be saved, with inexpensive care if proven treatments and preventions were available and used.A number of countries, for example, Ecuador, Turkey, Oman and Sri Lanka have halved their neonatal deaths from preterm birth through improving care of serious complications like infections and respiratory distress."
To bring pre-term mortality down significantly, health systems need a good number of well-qualified frontline workers, especially nurses and midwives.
Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
MLA
5 May. 2012.
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
'Over 1 In Every 10 Babies Born Premature Globally'
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